Dongwook Ko sentenced: Two crimes, two counties, two judges, 34 years in prison

BRAZIL − Any hope Dongwook Ko had of returning home to South Korea were dashed this week when two Indiana judges imposed lengthy prison sentences.

Ko, who just turned 21, faces 34 years behind bars. He will get credit for the equivalent of nearly five years already served.

On. Dec. 13, Clay County Superior Court Judge Robert Pell sentenced Ko to 24 years for his November jury conviction on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

In court that day, with chain restraints around his waist, hands and feet, Ko faced the judge and spoke. He said he is sorry and that he isn't the same person he was when arrested in Bloomington during the summer of 2019.

Ko told Judge Pell that the 18 people named on a hit list he compiled while being held on an immigration order at the Clay County Jail shouldn't be afraid and are not in danger.

Two days later, Monroe Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff revoked 10 years of a suspended sentence Ko received in 2021 when he pleaded guilty to criminal confinement committed with a deadly weapon.

2019 knife attack at Jacobs school strings camp

Ko was charged with attacking a 13-year-old girl attending a prestigious summer strings academy at Indiana Unversity's Jacobs School of Music. Other charges from that case − attempted murder, kidnapping, battery and strangulation − were dismissed.

Monroe Circuit Judge Darcie Fawcett included a stipulation in her 2021 sentencing order that Ko undergo annual mental health evaluations and take medication as prescribed.

After he was sentenced in Monroe County, Ko was transferred to a federal immigration holding site at the Clay County Jail in Brazil. Because he had been convicted of a felony and was in the U.S. on his mother's student visa, he was on track for deportation, two weeks away from being sent home.

But while waiting, Ko conspired with a fellow inmate, who later informed jail staff, to kill 18 people in Bloomington he held responsible for his plight.

Father of victim calls Ko 'a very dangerous man'

The Clay County prosecutor filed one count of conspiracy to commit murder, focusing the case on the detailed death threat against the father of the girl hurt in the music school attack. The girl's mother was listed as well.

Before Ko was sentenced, Steve Isbitts spent 10 minutes telling the judge how Ko's threats had terrorized him and his family. He said Ko "stabbed and slashed my daughter a dozen times." He called Ko "a very dangerous man" and asked for the maximum 30-year sentence.

"He is callous and unremorseful. He has zero empathy. He is evil. My family and I deserve protection."

Defense attorney Star Martinez, from the fourth law firm to represent Ko, said her client is sorry for what happened and told her "he felt bad" about the attack.

After declining at first to make a statement in court, he stood and apologized. "I'm sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused. I assure people they are not in danger."

Martinez said Ko suffers from mental health issues and "may have made some poor decisions." Psychiatrists in both cases found Ko competent to stand trial.

His lawyer asked Pell to impose a suspended sentence so Ko could be deported as previously planned.

"He needs to get out of this country. He needs to get back home," she said. "I ask for mercy. It's the story of someone who did not get the treatment they needed."

Clay County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Clapp recalled the day he called all 18 people on the hit list to warn them. "We have multiple victims here whose lives were put in fear," he told the judge, asking for the maximum jail time. "I think Mr. Ko should get that 30 years in prison."

He said Ko had his chance, and blew it. "Mr. Ko received a free pass, a free ticket home to Korea. Then he decided to put peoples' names on a list and described how they would be killed."

Judge Pell said Ko's crimes caused him "great concern" and said his issues as a juvenile involving weapons and threats were "very troubling."

Diekhoff revoked the eight years on house arrest and two years on probation, turning it into jail time because Ko violated the plea agreement that required him to not commit any more crimes. The 10 years will be consecutive to the 24-year Clay County sentence.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5867.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU Jacobs school attacker Dongwook Ko sentenced to 34 years